Wind Beneath His Wings
by regular daydreamer
Summary: Ariana had always adored her older brother, but when he does something unforgivable, she will try with all her might to fight the evil that has taken hold of him and to help her best friend, Maleficent. Eventual Diaval/OC.


**AN: Hey guys! So after a nearly two and a half year break from writing, I've decided to come back and give it another go. Be gentle on me! I'm a little rusty, so bear with me while I get back into the swing of things. I loved the movie Maleficent and thought I'd have a go, the wording will be slightly off as I'm going from memory too, but either way I hope you enjoy my story!**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing other than my oc Ariana.**

For as long as she could remember, Ariana had always held a fascination with the mysterious Moors which bordered the kingdom. Her mother had always told the most enchanting stories to help her and her older brother sleep. However, sleep never came to her after the stories were finished as her imagination ran wild with all the adventures that she would one day go on.

Every morning at sunrise, Ariana would always sneak out of their small cottage and race through the wheat fields just beyond their garden. As she pushed her small legs to their limit, she would imagine she were a faerie from her mothers stories, living in the Moors and greeting all the strange and charming creatures that lived in the land. Stretching her arms out as far as the would go, Ariana would imagine she had large beautiful wings that would carry her on the winds, soaring above the clouds and smiling as the sun's rays kissed her soft skin.

Her vivid imagination would soon become her salvation and only source of happiness as tragedy soon struck her small and simple family. Both mother and father had taken ill soon after her fifth birthday, and despite the village healer's best efforts, they perished leaving both Ariana and her brother orphans and with no other family to care for them.

Her brother tried to do his best for his younger sister. He would go from door to door offering his services in the hopes of being able to feed himself and his sister and maybe find some sort of shelter for the nights when the weather was cruel and unrelenting.

It was on these cold nights where he would tell Ariana the stories their mother had told them to help her sleep. He would also talk of his own dreams, of becoming ruler of the kingdom.

"When I am king, we shall live in a huge castle, with people attending our every need. And you dear Ariana, will have the most beautiful dresses made from the softest materials in the land. And then we will be loved by everyone!" he declared one night, making Ariana laugh and clap her hands at her brother's imagination.

Oh how wonderful it would be to live in a grand castle and to never worry about anything ever again! Her brother's dream was a fine one indeed, but to Ariana the only thing that would bring her true happiness would be to see the enchanting Moors.

So when her brother surprised her on her eighth birthday by telling her that he would take her to see the Moors, Ariana squealed with delight.

"Come on Stefan! You're so slow!" She cried over her shoulder as she sprinted through the fields that lay just before the Moors.

"Slow down Ariana, you'll hurt yourself!" He puffed as he jogged after his eager sister. He loved her dearly, but he feared her endless amounts of energy would one day be his undoing.

Ariana skidded to a halt just before the thick trees that shielded the mysterious realm. Her jaw dropped as she studied the thing that separated her from her biggest dream.

Stefan almost collided with her not noticing that she had come to an abrupt stop. Peering from over his sister's shoulder, Stephan smiled before whispering in her ear, "well then, what are you waiting for?"

Ariana, grinning from ear to ear nodded at her brother before slowly approaching the place she had dreamed of since before she could remember. Pushing her way through the trees, her bright green eyes shone with pure happiness and wonder as she took in the beauty of the Moors.

Everything was so colourful. She'd never seen grass so green in all her life, with elegant flowers sprouting everywhere and in the most vibrant colours. They made her want to pick one of each colour and place them in her silky hair.

Giggling to herself she approached a large stream that weaved throughout the fields, Ariana closed her eyes and stepped into the chilled water, letting the flowing water tickle her feet.

"Stefan, come on! You have to see this", she squealed while splashing around in the crystal water.

Stefan looked out from behind a tree, still unsure about crossing the boundary into the Moors. For so long he'd heard stories about the Moors, but never did he think that he'd ever go there. Taking a deep breath, Stefan crossed the invisible boundary and stumbled over to where his sister stood.

"Amazing isn't it?" She grinned, excited that her brother had finally decided to join her.

Stefan looked all around him, taking in the glorious sights that surrounded them when cold water suddenly hit his face, almost knocking him over from the shock.

Glaring at his sister who was doubled over laughing, he crouched down and in one fluid movement dragged his arm through the water and propelled it at his oblivious sister, who squealed as the water hit her in the face.

Huffing, Ariana pushed up the sleeves on her dress, and with a determined look catapulted as much water as she could at Stefan, who dodged the wave at the last second, and splashed even more water over his already drenched sister.

Stefan chuckled to himself as his sister whined about how cold she was. She had been the one to start it after all , so it was her own fault he thought. He was about to help his sister out of the water before she caught a cold when something shinning in the water caught his attention.

There glinting away at the bottom of the stream was a small stone no bigger than a thimble. Stefan bent down and picked up the curious stone, placing it in the palm of his hand, and with a gentle finger he felt the smooth surface of the precious gem. If he took the stone back to the kingdom, he was sure he would be able to sell it for a good price, enough to at least provide his sister and himself with food for a month!

Looking around to see if he'd been spotted, Stefan slowly started to slip the stone into his pocket, already thinking of what it could buy to make their lives a bit more comfortable, at least for a little while.

Patting his pocket to make sure it was there, he turned to his sister, and the sight that greeted him made his heart stop. Before his sister stood two large creatures who had started to raise their wooden weapons at them both. The creatures themselves looked like trees, with vines and moss winding their way up the creature's torsos.

Never losing eye contact with the living beings, he slowly took hold of his sister's wrist and pushed her behind him before they started to back away to the safety of the barrier.

"What's happening?" Ariana whispered nervously. Stefan looked down at his sister who was shivering, whether it was from the cold water or from the large intimidating creatures he didn't know.

Backing further away into the trees that concealed them both from sight, Stefan paused as a small being flew between the giant creatures and landed on a rock by where he was playing with his sister moments before.

Peeping through the branches, Stefan studied the new form that stood before them. It appeared to be a young girl with the most beautiful and bright eyes he had ever seen, but what shocked him the most was the large feathered wings that surrounded the girl, almost like a protective barrier. His shock was not because they terrified him, but just like her sparkling eyes he found them beautiful.

"I think it's a boy", he heard the girl speak as she tried to look through the thick vegetation to see what had caused all the fuss.

"Don't move", Stefan whispered to his sister and gave her a stern look, then crept past the trees, past the barrier and slowly into the clearing.

"What are you doing?"The girl asked while studying every little detail of the boy.

"W...we were just playing", he stuttered, trying his hardest to be brave in front of his sister, "we didn't mean any harm", he stated more confident in himself.

"Why did you take it?" She questioned him further, taking a step closer to Stefan, who nervously wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Take what?" He pretended to be oblivious. Surely they didn't know about the stone, he had checked that nobody was watching him before he slipped it into his pocket.

"Come on", she sighed as though bored with the conversation, "give it back", she held out her hand in front of her looking expectantly at Stefan.

Guilt covered his face as he placed his hand into his pocket and clutched the stone tightly. He would have to find another way to feed them, but he would worry about that later. Glancing at it one last time, he took a step closer to the girl and placed the small object in the palm of her hand.

She gave the boy a genuine smile before throwing the stone back into flowing stream.

"What are you doing?" He cried and watched as the stone floated to the bottom. If he'd have known she was just going to thrown it away he would have kept it for himself and his sister.

"Returning it to where it belongs", she smiled, "see, no harm done". She turned to the large creatures that stood behind her and gave them a nod in thanks. Hesitating only slightly, they started to back away to wherever they had appeared from, and back to guarding the realm.

"I'm Maleficent", the girl proudly stated, giving him another of her large smiles which seemed to warm his heart.

"Stefan", he smiled in reply.

"Stefan, what's going on?" His sister asked, stumbling over to her older brother, she was very clumsy around strangers which only made her brother smile more.

"This, dear sister is Maleficent, she's a faerie", he chuckled as her expression widened in shock.

A real faerie! She had always pretended to be a faerie when she ran through the wheat fields, and adored the stories her brother would tell of them, but now she was actually going to meet a real life one!

"This is my sister, Ariana", Stefan pulled her from her hiding spot behind him and pushed her towards Maleficent.

"Pleasure to meet you", Ariana nervously curtsied and gave her the biggest smile she could.

"I've always wanted to meet a human", Maleficent thought aloud, "and now here I am with two of them! You're not at all what I expected", she chuckled to herself.

Stefan grinned back at the young faerie, because even though she had tossed the stone back in the water, he could tell that Maleficent would become a dear friend to both him and his sister.


End file.
